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African women into popular topics of public discussion. They created
not only stereotypes, but also new knowledge of spheres that were
previously relatively unknown. In this way the scandals developed
normative demands as regards the behaviour of monarchs, politicians,
and civil servants. Moreover, they led to legal reforms, but also
to a pessimistic perception of increasing moral decline. In each case
the British commentary on German scandals and vice versa reinforced
ideas about the other country.
FABIAN KLOSE, Menschenrechte im Schatten kolonialer Gewalt: Die
Dekolonisierungskriege in Kenia und Algerien, 1945–1962, Veröffentli -
chungen des Deutschen Historischen Instituts London/Publications
of the German Historical Institute London, 66 (Munich: Oldenbourg,
2009), x + 346 pp. ISBN 978 3 486 58884 2. €39.80
Abstract
The process of decolonization and the institutionalization of the general
idea of human rights are two of the key features of twentiethcentury
world history. This dissertation combines these two fields of
research, which so far have generally been looked at separately, and
examines the interactions and repercussions in each case. The focus
here is on the wars of decolonization and their massive violation of
human rights.
Using the Mau-Mau war in Kenya (1952–6) and the Algerian war
(1954–62) as examples, this comparative study examines the policy of
violence of the two colonial powers, Britain and France. Analysis of
the colonial state of emergency, the ‘anti-subversive’ military strategy,
and the significance of humanitarian international law in both
conflicts produces generally valid conclusions about the radicalization
of colonial violence and the role of universal rights in the wake
of decolonization. The crimes committed during the wars of decolonization
were diametrically opposed to the global acceptance of the
idea of human rights. Virtually until the end of decolonization they
did lasting damage to the international human rights regime.
The study draws a wide arc and integrates three central topics:
human rights and decolonization, wars of decolonization and the
unleashing of colonial violence, and the repercussions on the international
human rights discourse. Methodologically at the interface
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